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Clash emerges over Puerto Rico power restoration

Associated Press
Published 3:33 p.m. ET Nov. 2, 2017

Whitefish Energy Holdings workers repair power line towers after the passing of Hurricane Maria in Manati, Puerto Rico on October 31, 2017. Power company director Ricardo Ramos says he is recommending that Oklahoma-based Cobra Acquisitions, which has a $200 million contract with the government, subcontract the workers Whitefish had employed.(Photo: RICARDO ARDUENGO / AFP/Getty Images)

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Officials in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are clashing over when power will be fully restored to the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico officials say Thursday that the state-owned utility is generating 37 percent of its regular output and aims for 95 percent by mid-December. But a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official says the goal is to restore 75 percent by the end of January.

The difference in estimates comes two days after the state-owned utility canceled a heavily scrutinized $300 million contract awarded to Whitefish Energy Holdings after the Category 4 storm hit on Sept. 20.

Power company director Ricardo Ramos says he is recommending that Oklahoma-based Cobra Acquisitions, which has a $200 million contract with the government, subcontract the workers Whitefish had employed.

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